H.S. boys indoor track: Ben Malone misses mark but wins at Millrose

It wasn’t the record-breaking performance that some thought was possible, but Pascack Valley’s Ben Malone got the job done Saturday night at the 106th Millrose Games at the 168th Street Armory in New York in the high school mile, winning comfortably with a time of 4:12.62.

With his main concern winning the race — not breaking Paramus Catholic’s Kevin Byrne’s record 4:08 set in 1977 — Malone stayed in the middle of the pack for the first half of the race. It was a slow pace, a detriment to Malone’s shot at the record, that crossed the halfway mark at 2:08.

"I was just looking to stay out of trouble and get myself in the best possible position to win," Malone said in a phone interview Saturday night. "The goal was to come out on top, and I’m really happy to come out as the champ. It’s a huge deal, and not many people get the chance to say they did this."

Malone said breaking Byrne’s record would have been "icing on the cake," but he certainly wasn’t disappointed in the end result.

"As the race got closer, I realized it’s not even the end of February yet," Malone said. "I want to be running my fastest times later on this year. I’m not disappointed in the least bit about not getting the record. Kevin’s 4:08 is one of the best times in New Jersey history and it was never one of my top goals to break that."

Malone ended up pulling away from the field in the final lap, cruising to victory by 1.24 seconds. North Babylon’s Kris Moran finished second, at 4:13.86.